With Geronimo 19 hours, 42 minutes ahead of Orange's 2002 record time when she crossed the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope on Sunday night, Olivier de KERSAUSON'S crew had 526 sea miles in hand at the end of their 17 day at sea.

This gap can be expected to widen over the coming hours, since Geronimo is now 6 degrees further south that her virtual rival, thus considerably shortening the route by tracking closer to Antarctica.

Naturally though, there's no predicting what the immediate future may hold, although good weather conditions are forecast for later.

It was not so long ago that, when referring to the islands in this region, marine charts carried a legend we hardly ever see today: "Existence Doubtful". In its way, shows the extent to which the southern seas had managed to protect their mystery. Cartographers would name the empty regions of the Southern Ocean "Hic sunt dracones" (Here be Dragons). Today, there are few places on earth that can only be visited after serious adventure, but where they do exist, these regions of our planet remain as isolated and wild as they have always been. In such places, nature is omnipotent.

The vast extent of the Antarctic Ocean marks the southern boundary of the Pacific, Indian and South Atlantic Oceans. Its official limit lies below the 40th parallel at the point where sailors enter what they call the Roaring Forties, Howling Fifties and Screaming Sixties. The winds here are violent almost all the time and can gust above hurricane force.

There are five levels between wind force 7 and hurricane force on the scale created by Sir Francis Beaufort in 1806. This Royal Navy admiral developed a rating system that related wind speed to conditions in the open sea. Hurricane force, or force 12, is the highest level of the scale and indicates wind speeds of over 64 knots (74 mph). The description given for the sea state in these conditions is "phenomenal". If the wind seems murderous, then the sea has distinctly criminal tendencies. The highest wave ever recorded on the planet was seen in these latitudes and was 36 metres high. But it's not just the size of the waves, but also their speed that adds to the risk of venturing into these waters. The longer a wave is, the faster it is. In the Southern Ocean, waves have an immense area of ocean in which to build. Their crests are sometimes over 200 metres apart and they can be moving at nearly 35 knots…

Tom Burton (AUS) and Alison Young (GBR) hit the right note in the Laser and Laser Radial at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as they took out the top honours and qualification spots to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final.

It was double Australian gold in the Paralympic classes. Matt Bugg (AUS) came out on top in the 2.4mR whilst London 2012 Paralympic SKUD18 gold medallists Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) were triumphant in the two person keelboat.

Lithuania's Juozas Bernotas came out on top in the Men's RS:X whilst Russia's Stefania Elfutina was triumphant in the Women's RS:X. Both sailors claim the first Abu Dhabi ISAF Sailing World Cup Final spots whilst Jock Calvert (AUS) and Joanna Sterling (AUS) picked up the Oceanic spots for the Emirati finale.

There was some fast paced action in the 49er and 49erFX Medal Races at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as Nathan Outteridge & Iain Jensen (AUS) and Maia & Ragna Agerup (NOR) claimed the honours and Abu Dhabi final spots.

A tight group of five young Papua New Guinean (PNG) Laser sailors are stepping up their 2015 Pacific Games competition program using this week's ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne. PNG is one of 33 countries represented at the important Oceanic event, the largest Olympic sailing regatta in the southern hemisphere.

Melbourne, Australia will host the final Rio 2016 Paralympic Games qualification regatta in 2015. With just under one year until the event, the 2015 IFDS Worlds was launched at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne.

ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne kick starts the journey to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates with qualification spots and top ranking points available in the Australian city.

Shawn Bennett (USA) won the Long Beach Stop of the 2015 California Dreamin' Series Sunday in this International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade 3 match racing regatta hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club and raced on the Long Beach Sailing Foundation's fleet of Catalina 37s.

After the limits of the southern oceans imposed by the combination of the weather systems and the safety barrier of the Antarctic Exclusion Zone, the Atlantic is opening up for the top trio of the Barcelona World Race.